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MIDDLESBROUGH v SHEFFIELD UNITED - MATCH REPORT
FA Cup Fifth Round replay, Wednesday 27th February 2008, Riverside Stadium
Elizabeth Medhurst
There was a quiet confidence surrounding Middlesbrough this evening, with Sheffield United hoping to pull off a traditional cup upset and claim the mouthwatering quarter-final home tie against Cardiff..
A combination of injuries, illness and suspensions meant that the team was slightly re-arranged from the one which had forced this replay, although the formation remained 4 4 2. With Aliadiere’s controversial suspension, and injuries for Shawky and Dong Gook Lee the striker shortage was filled by Alves, who made his first start for Boro, alongside Mido. Hines made his first full start of the season as Wheater was also suspended.
Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Young, Hines, Pogatetz, Grounds, Boateng, Arca (O’Neil 77, Rochemback (Johnson 104), Downing, Alves (Tuncay 73), Mido
Turnbull, Cattermole,
THE FIRST HALF
The match started tentatively with Sheffield looking the brighter team, but Boro appearing relaxed. The first real attack came on four minutes with a great cross from Downing which was blocked before Mido could get his feet to it. A free kick by Rocky after a foul on Pogetetz was hit straight towards the goal with accuracy although Hines’s header went over the bar as he put too much on it – a shame as Kenny had taken a risk and come off his line and a lighter touch would have seen the scoreline alter.
Three minutes later a Rocky corner gave a free header to Alves, but it sailed straight past him. A few nerves had started to show from Boro as the realisation of just how much this game mattered was starting to show, and with 10 minutes gone there was no room for doubt or anxiety.
It was the Blades who were controlling the tempo of this match, and it was not one that Boro were happy to dance to, as the next ten minutes were characterised by some confusion and not much flow in the Boro possession and very few incidents of note.
After a mid-air collision with Geary, Alves was temporarily floored with a nasty knock to the head – a genuine accident. A Luke Young throw in near the corner flag saw the beginning of a spell of Boro making threats towards the Sheffield goal, but blighted by the old story of not being able to finish. This culminated with a near-miss from Downing on the right side which skimmed the face of the goal.
Corners and set pieces were still looking shaky for Boro, with lack of shape and cover, such as not covering the back post during corners – more goal scoring potential squandered.
The first time Schwarzer was troubled was on twenty eight when Beattie got on the end of a Tonge cross, forcing him to dive and punch . By this stage the Blades has been putting up a good fight but creating neither threats nor opportunities in a major way. In a similar way Boro had also failed to take advantange and stamp any authority on the game.
Alves demonstrated some power by taking a free kick and blasting it over the wall, but straight into the arms of Kenny. More of this sort of power would go some way to blunting the Blades, but either Boro were holding this in reserve or were unable to build up enough momentum.
With five minutes of the half remaining, and only four yellow cards and no goals to show for it, Alves managed to create a break, made a lovely run and fed the ball to Young, who made the shot from 6 yards but it found the feet of Kenny, much to the consternation of Young who considered a foul was made but this was inconclusive.
Despite this, by the time the two minutes of added time had been played it was Boro who had got the edge overall, but only just. More power, structure and finishing was required in order to get this wrapped up in normal time.
THE SECOND HALF
No changes were made at the start of the half, with the first few minutes being a concerto of free kicks and injuries. Morgan received treatment early on after a collision , and former Boro player Ugo Ehiogu started to warm up. Speed was then caught in a mid-air collision with Mido, but fortuantely no further inuries were picked up by either side, and the personnel remained unchanged at this stage.
Once the momentum of the half got going it was Boro who looked the stronger team. The Blades started to look rattled, and Geary’s only response to Downing lenghtening his stride and making a run for it was to hack him down, receiving a yellow card for his trouble. The resulting free kick was dealt with well however, albeit that the visitors could still not find a way to threaten their superior oposition.
A couple of Boro corners later, and the Blades substituted Martin for Stead in the hope of shaking things up a little. As the hour passed, Arca got the break and slid the ball to Arca who made a beautiful shot – all credit to Kenny to the save. It was so frustrating however as these bursts were only occasional and still Boro could close the opposition down with any dominance.
Both sides needed to pull something off to get results, and it was decided that fresh blood was needed. This was provided by Hulse replacing Sharp and Tuncay for Alves, the latter having conducted himself well on his first start. Shortly afterwards Arca made way for O’Neil but the positioning did not change.
The threat of extra time was looming large by this stage. Tuncay got a break and almost made full advantage of it, only stopped at the end by some skilful defending. The changes had definitely made a difference to Boro and there was much more spark and purpose evident.
All the Boro efforts were continually blocked by the Blades sharp defence, Kilgallon and Morgan in particular shining throughout. A corner on eighty nine saw Sheffield Utd give the Boro goal everything they had, but eventually it was Schwarzer who closed them down by completely blocking off the angle from Beattie.
In injury time two Boro corners and a free kick gave final glimpses of hope, but as had been the pattern so far the dogged and gritty defending by the visitors kept Boro from celebrating and the battle would continue in extra time.
EXTRA TIME – FIRST PERIOD
The visitors swapped Martin for Shelton as the first period started. Boro had two chances early on, the second coming from Downing who clipped the outside of the net. O’Neil had now moved back onto the right with Boateng in the middle.
Tuncay almost became a hero with a double chance on goal, but Kenny’s run of form continued and the sequence ended up with Boro’s eleventh corner of the night which was once more fielded away. Aside from this sequence the first 10 minutes of the period had been littered with errors and it was clear that tiredness had kicked in on both sides.
Fresh legs for Boro came from Johnson, with corner-king Rochemback taking a break. The match continued to be equally matched in that both sides had belief but were not following through in either chances or even entertainment value, and this first period was, on the whole, turgid.
EXTRA TIME – SECOND PERIOD
With fifteen minutes away from penalties, Johnson executed a beautiful cross, but he could not find a colleague who had the legs left to bury it. It seemed that tenacity and good fortune would win the day here. The determined, gritty Sheffield Utd had done well to hold back Boro efforts, it was still unbelievable that there had been no goals yet.
And when the goal came it was not much luckier. A Tuncay shot was blocked after deflecting off Kilcannon. This found its way back to Mido who tried again but this time there was a deflection off Morgan which hit the post. Kenny, instinctively trying to clear the ball, ended up throwing it into his own net. It was heartbreakingly harsh for the goalkepeper whoo had put in a stellar perfromance, but well deserved by Boro.
Middlesbrough 1 Sheffield Utd 0 (Kenny 113)
Afer this it was Boro who were completely energised and made more onslaughts to attempt to increase the lead, Utd tiring by the second. It was all Boro in the end, who had finally started to look like cup finalists. All credit to the visitors who had made a magnificent attempt at getting their third Premiership scalp, but it was Boro who had got one step closer to another trophy.
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